A Tragedy of Tyranny
by Liber-T.E.A
Summary: Celestia's government raids the Apple Farm. Political parody. No pairings.
1. A Tragedy of Tyranny

This story has nothing to do with my other MLP fic, "A Late Applebloomer". It's not connected in anyway to my other work, and it's merely a fic I thought of while doing some research earlier. I'll explain all that at the bottom.

I don't own MLP.

* * *

It was a good day for the Apple family. The sun was shining, the skies were blue, and they were just about to finish harvesting the apples.

Applejack was working with her big brother at bucking the apples in question, and boy were they proud. Their farm specialized in organic fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, and they took extra special care in how they grew their food. As such, they took an immense pride in their work, and they loved seeing the happy looks on their customers' faces when they brought their goods to market.

Applebloom and Granny Smith, however, were working with the cows and chickens, gathering fresh milk and eggs for not only them, but for the town. Their products were rather popular in town, as everypony felt much healthier from eating their food. It was more expensive, but, seeing that Ponyville was actually doing rather well economically, most of it's citizens could afford it.

This wasn't to say they didn't have detractors. Celestia's government was a bit...bureaucratic. She was essentially it's president/queen, but, because she only had so much she could handle at a time, she had a bunch of agencies working under her. One of these agencies was called the Equestrian Health and Nutrition Administration. It's job was to regulate the various medicines around Equestria, as well as control how food was made. It decreed that unpasteurized milk was 'too unsafe' for ponies to drink.

The Apple family, along with many other organic farmers around Equestria, fought back, saying that organic milk was way more nutritious than processed milk. They also warned their customers beforehand about the risk of disease, and they complained that the government was being tyrannical about what they could or could not eat.

Well, on this day in question, the government got the Apple family back for speaking out against them.

Applejack and Big Mac had just finished collecting all the apples for the season when they came. Unicorns dressed up in full S.W.A.T. Gear came up to the farmhouse, and without warning, they immobilized the farmponies with their magic. Applejack yelled at them.

Applebloom in particular was distraught. The poor filly was crying from sheer confusion.

"Applejack, w-what's goin' on?"

Her sister took a deep breath, and she almost whispered.

"It'll be ok, lil' sis. Jus' be brave and calm, ok?"

Granny Smith was also pretty upset, but she was more mad than anything.

"Go back ta ol' Joe Stallion, ya Commies!"

The police responded with a silencing spell.

* * *

Over the next several hours, the Apples were kept immobilized as the police ponies ripped through their farm. All of their documents were taken, including customer logs, financial reports and budgets, and day-to-day lists of how things were going on the farm. Money was also taken. All of their stored milk was poured down the drain, their eggs destroyed, and, more horribly, all of their apples were put into piles, and bleach was poured on them so nopony could eat them. Their cows were taken away. The entirety of their apple cider, even their nonalcoholic variety, was also destroyed. An entire year's worth of work, gone in an instant.

Throughout all of this, the awful actions of the government drew a large crowd of protestors. Apparently, Rainbow Dash came by the farm, only to see what was going on. Ever a fan of her friend's apples (and more so their apple cider), she quickly told the others, who then in turn told everypony else. Jeers and insults were being hurled at the legal raiders, and rightfully so.

As the raid drew to a close, Applejack and her family were all handcuffed, and they were loaded into a police carriage. The farmers were then taken to Ponyville jail, where they were never informed of their basic legal rights, and they were never informed of any charges against them. Bail was set at over one-thousand-two-hundred-and-fifty bits apiece, more than the family made in an entire year.

Eventually, they were released. It was then that they learned that they were arrested for felony conspiracy charges. They had also lost their dairy and other various licenses, meaning that they could no longer supplement their incomes by selling milk. All their products were destroyed, so they were going to be without an income for quite a while. They had destroyed not only their farm, but their spirit.

In all, the government took more than some apples and some money. They took away their liberty, and it was a loss for all in Equestia that day, a sad day indeed.

* * *

All of the things that happened in the above story have actually happened in real life (well, aside from the ponies and magic).

I was just tuned into some controversies here lately about the FDA raiding various farms for various reasons. As an Objectivist, it disgusts me to see our government violate property rights in such a horrible and disgraceful way, but this doesn't surprise me in the least. The FDA has no limits on it's power due to 100 years of a leftist Supreme Court, a pragmatism-filled Congress that only seems to take more and more power, and an Executive Branch that can basically get away with lighting the Constitution on fire. This isn't just limited to the FDA, as I could write a hundred stories similar to this about different government agencies.

For those of you who don't believe that our government could do such a thing, just Google "raw milk fda raid" and see what you find. Hell, just look at our foreign policy or monetary policy. Our government is beyond repair without a serious, serious event. I personally have my doubts.

As for why I chose to complain in the form of MLP fanfiction, the idea of Applejack's farm being raided just came into my head, and it sounded like a good idea. Complain if you want.

Please review, and remember that evil succeeds when good men do nothing. By going along, you let them win. Stand up for your rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Don't do it with guns and bombs, but with words. Take your message to your leaders, and to the ballot box if they don't listen. One day, either the world we know it will end, or we will come out victorious.


	2. Extra Chapter and Response to Criticism

Since I was told that I'm breaking the site rules by just having an author's note, I will do another short chapter. My response to criticism is at the end.

I don't own MLP.

* * *

Months later, the Apple family was finally back in business. Business was slow, as they could only produce milk and eggs at the time, but it was enough to put food on the table. They were lucky, as they were given a massive fine instead of a prison sentence.

One day, however, the family was interrupted yet again.

They were working hard one day when an 'official'-looking unicorn was walking around with a clipboard taking notes. Weary of outsiders since the last incident, Applejack went to the intruder.

"'Cuse me, but who are you."

"My name is Booker, and that's all you need to know."

Knowing a government type when she saw one, Applejack stood in his way.

"Where's ya warrant?"

"Now listen here! I'm under authorit-"

"If ya have no warrant, then ya havf'ta go!"

With that, she and Big Mac escorted the pony off the farm.

* * *

Not a week later, they were raided again. The government again destroyed all their produce and they were slapped with a massive fine. They had a warrant this time, but they still held them at gunpoint as if they did something wrong.

A month later, another raid. And again months after that. Fine after fine was dropped on them. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore. They had to sell their farm to pay off the fines, and they moved away to live with relatives. The government bought the land, and they sold it to a large corporation, who polluted the area and got away with it by lobbying the Equestrian Environmental Agency for protection, and sold a product inferior to what the Apples were selling at a higher price due to lack of competition.

In the end, the government won, but everypony else lost. Ponyville lost it's apples (along with the other products that the Apple family produced) and it's friends, the Apples lost their home and income, and everypony else took it as they should: a threat to not only their livelihoods (because the question of "Who's next?" was on everypony's mind), but to every other freedom they enjoyed.

* * *

To Zalanort, here is your review:

"*Sigh* I liked "A Late Applebloomer" better. Don't get me wrong, as  
an anarcho-syndicalist communist and libertarian socialist, I have no love for  
the state or outrageous bureacracies interfering in the lives of the populace.  
The parallels you are attempting to make with the Obama administration though  
are simply delving into the realm of absurdity. Regulations to prevent  
multinational corporations from abusing the rights of their workers,  
destroying the environment, and creating products unsafe for consumers, are  
something that should be expected from a modern society. You liken a few  
regulations on the agricultural sector to a dystopian society reminiscent to  
1984. The accusations from the populace are even more absurd, such as the  
"Communist" charge by Granny Smith. Communism is By definition, a stateless,  
classless society where the workers control the means of production. Calling  
them socialists would be a slightly more legitimate claim, with the  
disgustingly totalitarian nature of the state socialist ideology being plenty  
corrupt enough to perform such atrocities, though such claims against a  
government whose only powerful "left-wing" party is center-right by  
international standards, calling them socialists still is quite absurd. I'm  
sorry, as I know I have been highly supportive in the past, but I believe you  
should stick with your previous topics. The hyper-individualism, egoism, and  
utterly disgusting disregard for others that forms the Objectivist philosophy  
does not fit a communitarian, altruistic society such as Equestria. It is  
"Friendship is Magic", not "Friends Are Simply Parasites and Only You Matter"."

Here are your problems:

1. I never mentioned the Obama administration. It's a problem with EVERY administration for the last 100+ years, and likely every one for the foreseeable future.

2. Regulations punish only specific groups of people (the words on our Supreme Court are "Equal Justice Under Law", not "Unequal Justice Above The Law), and are designed either by lobbyists who pay politicians to punish their competitors or by stupid politicians who act reactively without thinking. Tort law and common law can solve every problem that regulation supposedly "solves". Also, as an anarchist, you are being hypocritical when you say that "regulations are something that should be expected from a modern society". You seek no government, and you supposedly have no love for "outrageous bureaucracies", yet you find that regulations are necessary. If there is no government, as is standard with anarchism, who carries out regulation? In a society with no law, how is there regulation? Regulation in and of itself creates bureaucracy.

3. You say I liken a few regulations on the agricultural sector to a dystopian society reminiscent to 1984. First of all, it's not just a 'few regulations'. There are thousands upon thousands of regulations on the agricultural sector. Second, I don't have to embellish the government's abilities to be fascists. I could send you links to videos of these raids, videos that show the government destroying and taking private citizen's property, as well as holding innocent citizens at gunpoint. I thought I said to Google "raw milk fda raid". Clearly, had you followed my directions, you would have known better.

4. The "Communist" charge was started with "Joe Stallion". I was referencing Stalin, and by extension, Stalinism. I don't care what communism is supposed to be. I care about what it is in reality (since we live in REALITY, not some fantasy world with unicorns and magic), and it's an ideology that, in practice, has killed well over 100 million people since 1917. Not only that, but it is an oppressive ideology that binds people to bow down to society and lose themselves in the mob. In theory and in practice, people become cattle.

5. Again, I didn't mention a party, did I? You seem to be implying that I'm talking about the Democrats. I hate both Republicans and Democrats equally, and they are both at fault for our problems. Both seek to expand the government, as both sides only see half of the equation of liberty (Democrats want social liberty but economic tyranny, reverse for the Republicans), and both sides will continue to screw this country over until either we are a authoritarian society or we get rid of the two-party system.

6. This was a oneshot that I just felt like writing. If I want to write more, I will, but I don't really have any interest in doing so at the moment. Don't like this story, don't read it.

7. I don't deny your description of Objectivism (though I would have added the term 'as long as we don't violate the basic rights of life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness of others' to it), but you can't prove that Equestria is a communitarian society. In fact, they still have money, still have rich people, still have poor people, and still have 2 princesses. I thought communists hated the monarchy? If so, then why does the supposed "communitarian" society of Equestria still have a royal family? In fact, the whole city of Canterlot seems pretty bourgeoisie to me, what with all the rich ponies everywhere.

In essence, I thank you for your support of "A Late Applebloomer". However, if you want to critique me, at least get your facts straight.


End file.
